During my adolescence, I never understood why my parents insisted on my friends and I being silent when they drove. This behavior always seemed to me an overcautious, very much “adult” motion … and one that was never truly necessary. I now realize, however, that their scorn was in all our best interests.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that a distracted driver is also one that is prone to having accidents; it’s a simple statistical fact. Concentration while driving is absolutely imperative, and it is also what kept my parents alert, focused and vigilant at all times for any approaching obstacles.

Unfortunately, as Americans navigate the highway of life we repeatedly fail to adhere to these fundamentals of driving, and don’t see many signals and signs explicitly warning us of oncoming dangers. Such defensive driving tactics (please, just run with the metaphor) have yet to be integrated into nightly news broadcasts, which so many American viewers invest their faith in for guidance on international and domestic affairs. The problem with this total reliance is that the media has consistently proved in the past to have taken its eyes off the road in order to pander to the bickering of celebrities and other frivolities.

However, this shortcoming of the media does not exempt the American public from blame. A great deal of this neglect can be attributed to the media, but a lot also lies in the hands of the public acting as passengers, failing to point out and fix the potholes themselves.

As a consequence of viewer loyalty, the whimpering and pouting of spoiled iconic figures like Britney Spears and her marital status have been publicized in place of truly dire situations occurring globally, like the genocides in Sudan and Darfur. This irresponsible trend of allowing ourselves to be steered away from topics of importance is representative of the American public’s lack of maturity as a whole, and its need to sugarcoat everything in order to dull the impact of reality. At best, this sort of ignorance is an anesthetic, a distraction for audiences to comfortably partake in. It makes us drowsy and sedated, ultimately inhibiting our ability to predict and react, while politicians deliberately speed through policy making and jeopardize the safety of American citizens.

We, as a people, must stop being so complicit with this vapid trash that we are regularly exposed to on television news, and instead demand more serious and relevant material. May I ask, does Rosie O’Donnell’s personal critique of Donald Trump’s hairpiece (or how he retaliated by calling her a fat, washed up comedian) merit hours of coverage? Yeah, it’s funny for a couple of seconds, but hardly worthy of the hours of attention it receives, at least in comparison to an impending nuclear holocaust instigated by North Korea or a pitifully unsuccessful occupation of Iraq. By endorsing these programs we’re also ensuring the continuance of their kind.

I suggest that we, as a public, collectively boycott and revoke the media’s license if we are ever truly to appreciate the well-being of ourselves and others mutually caught up in the highway of global traffic.

Brandon Stephens is a freshman English major. He is publicly taking the side of Donald Trump’s hairpiece because he feels that it has seniority over Ms. O’Donnell, and therefore is infallible.